"I’ve obviously been preaching defense with him a lot," Fizdale said the Knicks' 104-99 loss to the Toronto Raptors Saturday night at the Garden. "And then just not overthinking the game. I thought he started to put a lot of pressure on himself as the season moved on, trying to live up to this certain level. Obviously we want him to be a consistent player and play to a certain level. But this is the first time he’s played these kind of minutes and has really been asked to do so many different things."

Vonleh finished with nine points and five rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench.

In his previous seven games entering Saturday, Vonleh was averaging 4.6 points and 6.9 rebounds while shooting just 28.2 percent from the field and 11.1 percent from three-point range.

Vonleh played the first three minutes of the Knicks' loss to the Detroit Pistons on Friday but after missing his first three shots, Fizdale benched him from the rest of the game.

This recent stretch has been a sharp decline after Vonleh displayed his versatility through the first half of the season. His ability to defend, rebound, bring the ball up the court in transition and stretch the floor with his three-point shooting made him, what Fizdale considered, the Knicks' best all-around player.

He was also averaging 26.1 minutes per game entering Saturday, nine more than he ever had previously in his career. Vonleh had started 47 of the 54 games he had played in.

Seeing that much playing time has been an adjustment.

"I’m conditioned pretty well," Vonleh said recently. "But it’s still, I would say it’s pretty tough. I love playing all these minutes but it’s still pretty tough. I’ve still got to get adjusted to it. Like anything, once you’ve got something new thrown at you you’ve got to adapt to it. It’s different. I’m just taking it one day at a time."

The Knicks took a flier on Vonleh in the off-season, signing the 2014 ninth-overall pick to a one-year, partially guaranteed contract.

Through his first 47 games, Vonleh was averaging 9.0 points and 8.6 rebounds per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 38.8 percent from the perimeter.

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All the news about the New Jersey Devils, from training camp to the regular season and Stanley Cup playoffs.